New Appointments

Linda Aldoory Named Dean of American University’s College of Arts and Sciences

4/20/22

By ARHU Staff

Professor of Communication Linda Aldoory will be leaving her position as associate dean for faculty affairs and research and director of the Center for Humanities Research in the University of Maryland’s College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) to become the dean of American University’s College of Arts and Sciences, the university’s largest school. Her appointment is effective July 1, 2022.

Aldoory joined the faculty of the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland in 1999 and has held a number of administrative roles since 2015. She previously served as associate dean for research and programming, diversity officer and equity administrator in ARHU, associate chair of the Department of Communication and founder and director of the Center for Health Risk and Communication, housed in the Department of Communication. She also served as endowed chair and director of the Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy in the School of Public Health.

Aldoory studies public relations, feminism and health communication, with much of her work focusing on the effects of media messages and campaigns on underserved health populations. She serves as vice president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and is president elect for AEJMC. She holds affiliate appointments in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, UMD’s School of Public Health and the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her recent book, “The Future of Feminism in Public Relations and Strategic Communication,” co-authored with Elizabeth Toth, won the 2021 PRIDE Outstanding Book Award from the Public Relations Division of the National Communication Association.

During her time in the ARHU Dean’s Office, Aldoory has strengthened the research mission of the college by broadening visibility and support for humanities research; led the college diversity committee and actively assessed the diversity strategic plan with an eye toward next steps; and spearheaded the college’s Campaign on Race, Equity and Justice, which has included a Committee on Race, Equity and Justice to advise the dean, a Dean’s Colloquium Series on Race, Equity and Justice, and enhanced curriculum and programming. She also played a key role in securing speakers for and organizing the Dean’s Lecture Series, which invites artists and public intellectuals to visit the college for timely dialogue. And she’s worked closely with the Office of Faculty Affairs to address a wide range of faculty concerns.

“Linda is an efficient and effective administrator whose skills and talents will be missed in ARHU but greatly valued, I’m sure, at American,” said ARHU Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill. “Her passionate and upbeat approach to finding solutions for challenging problems will serve her well in the new role and I wish her continued success.”

Effective July 1, 2022, Professor of Communication Trevor Parry-Giles, will step away from his current role as associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), to serve a two-year term as the associate dean for faculty affairs and research to provide continuity for the new ARHU dean. Parry-Giles has taught communication at the University of Maryland since 1999. In ARHU, Parry-Giles has served on the Graduate Fellowships Committee for six years and has chaired and served on numerous selection and award committees for the Graduate School. He has served on seven faculty search committees and the search committee for the dean of the School of Journalism in 2011–12. He was also chair of the Department of Communication’s Appointment, Promotion and Tenure (APT) committee and Professional Track Faculty Promotion committee, and served on the ARHU APT committee. He was recently named a 2022 community fellow with the Humane Metrics in the Humanities and Social Sciences initiative.

The Office of the Dean looks forward to announcing an interim appointment for DEI soon.

Mizzou Administrator, Professor of Music and Black Studies Named ARHU Dean

4/19/22

By Maryland Today Staff

The University of Maryland has named Stephanie Shonekan dean of the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU), effective July 1.

As dean, Shonekan will provide strong and visionary leadership for ARHU, supporting an environment of diversity and inclusive excellence in teaching and learning; promoting a culture of impactful research, scholarship and creative activities; and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and partnerships.

“I am excited by this opportunity to lead the effort to drive and support an environment of interdisciplinary curricular, pedagogical innovation and research for the faculty and students of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland,” said Shonekan. “As a professor of music and Black studies, I am a constant champion for the humanities and the fine arts, and am energized to lead collaborative work to help all of us understand the critical importance of these areas, and their potential to enrich all disciplines.”

Shonekan joins UMD from the University of Missouri, where she serves as senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Science. In this role, her work focuses on guiding the college to meet the mission of a public institution, providing a well-rounded education to its students, promoting research productivity, and serving the college, campus and all the various fields of the College of Arts and Science. She leads and manages the college’s budget and administration, faculty affairs, hiring and facilities.

“Dr. Shonekan brings a wealth of experience advocating for the representation of arts and humanities, driving innovation in teaching and learning, and advancing work to create an inclusive culture,” says Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice. “Her scholarship and leadership align with the vision outlined in our strategic plan, and I am thrilled by the knowledge and perspective she brings to the University of Maryland.”

As senior associate dean at the University of Missouri, she has led initiatives to develop guidelines regarding faculty workloads; review and revise the staff support structure throughout the college; and find ways to uplift and highlight the value of the college’s departments and colleagues in the humanities, arts and social sciences.

Prior to her current position, she served as associate dean for graduate studies and inclusive culture, where she created a faculty mentorship initiative focused on meeting the intricate needs of graduate students and led cross-departmental work to make the college and campus a more inclusive space.

Shonekan previously served for five years as a department chair, first at the University of Missouri and then at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and held several roles at Columbia College Chicago for eight years.

Shonekan’s work focuses on race, culture, identity and history. A prolific ethnomusicologist, she is the author of “Black Resistance in the Americas: Slavery and Its Aftermath, Black Lives Matter and Music,” and “Soul, Country and the USA: Race and Identity in American Music Culture.”  She is also co-founder of the national “Race and the American Story” project, dedicated to “cultivating conversation, fostering understanding, broadening knowledge, and building community among people of different backgrounds and walks of life in the U.S.”

Shonekan is the recipient of various awards, including the Commitment to Diversity Faculty award at the University of Massachusetts, and the Marian O'Fallon Oldham Distinguished Educator Award, the Excellence in Education Award and the Black Girls Rock Award, and was a Teaching Excellence finalist at the University of Missouri.

She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Jos, Nigeria, an M.A. in English from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and a Ph.D. in folklore and ethnomusicology from Indiana University.

Photo by Jackie Byas.

Professor of English Jessica Enoch Appointed ARHU ADVANCE Professor

9/14/21

By Rosie Grant

Professor of English Jessica Enoch has been named the 2021–22 ARHU ADVANCE Professor, a two-year role during which she will mentor and support ARHU faculty seeking to get published and promoted, find greater work-life balance and more.

ADVANCE faculty are part of the university’s ADVANCE Program, which is housed within the Office of Faculty Affairs and supports the recruitment, retention and professional growth of a diverse faculty through faculty networks, education and training, advocacy and research. Each college has an ADVANCE professor, which are all women.

Enoch, the director of the Academic Writing Program and a mother of three, said she has a particular interest in supporting working parents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has experienced firsthand the difficulties of balancing teaching with childcare and virtual school.

“I am especially concerned with women faculty who have taken on the brunt of childcare during the pandemic,” she said.

She also plans to help women and assistant professors of color acclimate themselves to the university and prepare for promotion.

ADVANCE began in 2010 as a five-year, NSF-funded campuswide project promoting institutional transformation with respect to the retention and advancement of women faculty in STEM. Since then it has increased the percentage of women in tenure-track faculty roles and was recognized by the National Science Foundation as an exemplary program.

Enoch was formerly a participant in two ADVANCE mentorships, under Professor of English Laura Rosenthal and Professor of Communication Linda Aldoory. With Rosenthal she participated in a group of associate professors who worked to complete their second monograph and earn promotion to full professor. The four women in this group have completed their books and have earned, or soon will earn, promotions. With Aldoory, Enoch took on the role of mentor to two associate professors, meeting virtually during the pandemic to discuss strategies for publication and promotion.

“I have seen firsthand the great benefit of the ADVANCE program,” she said.

Enoch was selected in coordination with the ARHU Dean's Office and will hold the position for two years. She is the third English professor to hold this appointment, after Professor of English Martha Nell Smith and Rosenthal.

Patrick Warfield Appointed Associate Dean for Arts and Programming

9/13/21

By Jessica Weiss ’05

Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill has announced the appointment of Professor of Musicology Patrick Warfield as the Associate Dean for Arts and Programming in the College of Arts and Humanities, effective October 4, 2021.

The position is new to the college, responsible for supporting visual and performing arts units and programs, directing the new campuswide Arts For All initiative and administering programming across the arts and humanities.

“It’s a hugely important and exciting time for the arts at the University of Maryland, and I am so thrilled to have Patrick at the helm,” said Dean Thornton Dill. “He brings a strong record of research and teaching, a variety of administrative experiences and, most importantly, a deep belief in the power of the arts to address grand challenges.”

Working closely with the dean, faculty and administrators, Warfield will provide administrative oversight, coordination, management, advocacy and facilitation of the creative, performing, visual and digital arts in the college and promote and represent the accomplishments and needs of the arts within the Office of the Dean, on the campus and beyond.

As director of Arts For All, the new campuswide arts initiative and one of President Darryll J. Pines’ five bold actions to “move Maryland forward,” Warfield will work to expand arts programming across campus and galvanize collaborations between the arts, technology and social justice. In this position, Warfield will connect and facilitate activities of participating partners; support and ensure implementation of all aspects of the initiative; promote and amplify the visibility and impact of the initiative on campus, locally and nationally; and refine and elaborate the vision for the initiative over time.

Warfield called the new role a “dream come true.”

“I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and building the faculty, staff and student coalitions that will allow the arts, the humanities and the sciences to flourish on campus, connect with one another deeply, and create a meaningful and positive impact on our world,” he said.

Warfield has taught musicology, the historical and cultural study of music, at the University of Maryland School of Music since 2009. He has also served as director of graduate studies and associate director in the School of Music, as well as on a number of campuswide committees. In the School of Music he helped to create the Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Access committee, establish the Collington residency program, which sends two graduate students from the school to live and work as artists-in-residence at the nearby Collington Continuing Care Retirement Community, and worked to create partnerships with Prince George’s County Public Schools, including programs that helped to strengthen teacher training and provide virtual lessons during the pandemic.

A scholar of American musical culture, primarily American music of the 19th and 20th centuries, Warfield is the author of two books on John Philip Sousa, an American composer and conductor known primarily for his band music and marches; he is currently working on a book on the United States Marine Band. His publications have appeared in The Journal of the American Musicological Society, American Music, The Journal of the Society for American Music and Nineteenth-Century Music Review.

Warfield is also an affiliate faculty member in the Department of American Studies.

He earned a Ph.D. and M.A. from Indiana University, both in musicology, and a B.M.E. in music education from Lawrence University.

ARHU Senior Staff Leadership Changes

7/1/21

Dear Colleagues,

I write to share news of senior staff leadership changes in the Office of the Dean.

Associate Professor of History Daryle Williams will be leaving his position as associate dean of faculty affairs to become the next dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS) at the University of California, Riverside. He will remain in the ARHU Dean’s Office until August 30, working on several special projects and initiatives.

Williams joined the faculty of the Department of History at the University of Maryland (UMD) in 1994 and was appointed to the associate dean position in 2013. Under his leadership, Williams has been instrumental in strengthening faculty affairs for the college, working creatively with faculty and unit leadership to accomplish their goals within the parameters of University procedures and requirements. A prominent historian, Williams brought his scholarly expertise to the college as a partner and leader in building the college’s signature expertise and national recognition in Black digital humanities. Since 2018, he has been a co-leader of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded open-source online database Enslaved.org, which uses digital tools to document the experiences of enslaved people. UMD remains a central partner on Enslaved.org, with scholarly publications, student summer research programs and continued partnerships projected through the end of the current grant cycle (2023) and beyond. Williams was a thoughtful, wise and fun associate dean and will be missed. He takes a broad range of experience, knowledge and expertise to his new role as dean of CHASS.

Effective July 1, 2021, Professor of Communication Linda Aldoory will serve as the associate dean for faculty affairs and research. In this reconfigured, expanded role, she will continue her former responsibilities supporting research and scholarly productivity for the college’s faculty and graduate students, as well as work to ensure that interests and needs of the tenure- and professional-track faculty are known, represented and addressed. Aldoory had served as associate dean for research and programming since 2017.

Aldoory studies public relations, feminism and health communication, with much of her work focusing on the effects of media messages and campaigns on underserved health populations. She was recently elected vice president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and is president elect for AEJMC. She holds affiliate appointments in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and UMD’s School of Public Health and the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She is the founding director of the Center for Health Communication Research and is former endowed chair and director of the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy, both at Maryland. Aldoory earned her doctorate in mass communication from Syracuse University.

The Office of the Dean is currently accepting applications for a new associate dean position, for arts and programming, to elevate an arts leadership profile in ARHU. Chief among the associate dean's roles will be to provide direction to Arts for All, a bold campus-wide arts initiative announced by President Darryll J. Pines, as well as implement college-level programming including the Dean’s Lecture Series and the Dean’s Colloquium Series on Race, Equity and Justice.

In addition, later this summer I will announce and start accepting applications for a college diversity, equity and inclusion officer.

I hope you will join me in thanking Daryle Williams for his leadership and innumerable contributions to the ARHU community and in wishing him well in his future endeavors as well as congratulating Linda Aldoory for her appointment to this new and important role.

Sincerely,

Bonnie Thornton Dill

Aldoory Elected to Top Leadership Position in AEJMC

4/22/21

Professor Linda Aldoory has been newly elected Vice President of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). She will go through the association's leadership ladder and serve as the AEJMC President for 2023-24.

"I am honored and excited to have the chance to help lead AEJMC in the future. I look forward to working with staff and membership as well as other leaders and organizations to advance journalism and mass communication education, research, and professional freedom," Aldoory said.

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit, educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students, and media professionals. The Association’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to cultivate the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice and a better informed public.

Provost Extends ARHU Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill’s Term

1/29/21

By ARHU Staff

University of Maryland Provost Mary Ann Rankin announced yesterday that Bonnie Thornton Dill’s term as the dean of the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) has been extended until June 30, 2022.

“Under Dean Thornton Dill’s leadership, the College of Arts and Humanities has secured major donor support for its performing arts programs and initiatives, received numerous significant grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in support of inclusive humanities and digital technologies, and engaged in several major curriculum initiatives that include new interdisciplinary majors such as Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and Immersive Media Design,” Rankin said in an email to campus leadership and the college.

Thornton Dill, who has led the college since 2011, has focused her work on increased support and visibility for arts and humanities research; provided leadership for interdisciplinary initiatives within the college and across the campus; supported student engagement with underserved communities; and helped increase the number of UMD’s national scholarship award recipients.

In Spring 2019, ARHU launched an integrated curriculum-career initiative “Be Worldwise. Get Worldready.,” which prepares students for life after graduation. The initiative blends new and reimagined course offerings, integrated academic and career advising and access to internships, alumni networking and other opportunities across the region.

Thornton Dill looks forward to further advancing this initiative and highlighting to prospective students and families the adaptability of a liberal arts education. Additionally, she will launch robust discussions about the future of the humanities Ph.D.

“I am proud of what the college has achieved over the past ten years and am so thankful to the faculty and staff who have worked diligently to make Maryland a destination for arts and humanities study. I look forward to amplifying the exciting work happening in the college at the intersection of art, culture, technology and social justice and plan to work toward solidifying resources that raise our profile and continue to enable collaborations across disciplines.”

During Thornton Dill’s tenure, the college has been intentionally focused on weaving equity, social justice and inclusion into all aspects of teaching, research and service. She established a 21-person Committee on Race, Equity and Justice, which advises her on goals related to the eradication and dismantling of structural racism and on strategies for ensuring equity and social justice throughout the college, campus and community. This past fall, the campus announced the university’s first honorific naming of an academic department, the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS).

Recognized internationally for her scholarship on the intersections of race, class and gender in the U.S. with an emphasis on African American women, work and families, Thornton Dill is also a professor in WGSS. She is the founding director of both the Center for Research on Women at the University of Memphis and the Consortium on Race, Gender, and Ethnicity at UMD. Her scholarship includes three books and numerous articles.

Arts and Humanities, Journalism Dean Appointments Extended

1/28/21

Two University of Maryland deans—Bonnie Thornton Dill of the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) and Lucy Dalglish of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism—were reappointed to lead their colleges for another year beyond the end of their second regular five-year terms, Senior Vice President and Provost Mary Ann Rankin announced today.

Thornton Dill, ARHU dean since 2011, was reappointed through June 2022. Under her leadership, the college has secured major donor support for its performing arts programs and initiatives, received significant grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in support of inclusive humanities and digital technologies, and engaged in major curriculum initiatives that include new interdisciplinary majors such as Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and Immersive Media Design. In addition, Thornton Dill has led ARHU’s emergence as a campus leader in social justice and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, recently exemplified by UMD’s first honorific naming of an academic department, the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Dalglish, Merrill College dean since 2012, was reappointed to lead the college though June 2023 after her regular term ends next year. Under her leadership, the college secured major donor support and grants, including $3 million from the Scripps Howard Foundation to establish the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, which has published its investigations in newspapers and elsewhere nationwide. In addition, a collaboration with National Public Radio that emanated from the Howard Center has received five national awards for excellence in reporting. During Dalglish’s tenure, the college created the George Solomon Endowed Chair in Sports Journalism with support from Maury Povich and Connie Chung '69, and many others. In addition, Merrill College has engaged in innovations in curriculum design that prepare students for the rapidly changing field.

Rankin, who will step down as provost this week, said she was joined in the decisions by Interim Provost Ann Wylie.

ADVANCE PROFESSOR 2013-14

Congratulations to new ADVANCE professor Laura Rosenthal, a professor of English in the College of Arts and Humanities. Rosenthal is an accomplished faculty member with a multitiude of learship positions within the college. She serves as a role model and mentor for junior colleagues.

The ADVANCE Program for Inclusive Excellence aims to transform the insitutitional culture of the university by facilitating networks, offering individual mentoring and support, and providing information and strategic opportunities for women faculty in all areas of academia. The ADVANCE program aims to produce academic environments with assumptions, values and beliefs, policies and practices that support and generate professional growth and excellence for all faculty.

Learn more and see the full list of new ADVANCE professors at the program website.

NEW CLARICE SMITH CENTER DIRECTOR FROM CALIFORNIA KNOWN FOR INNOVATION

8/22/13

By Virginia Terhune, Gazette.Net

Martin Wollesen plans to bring the same inventiveness to his new job as executive director of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park that he did to his previous job in California.

“I’m really excited about making the move,” said Wollesen, who succeeds Susie Farr on Oct. 1,

Farr is retiring after 14 years as executive director of the arts center at the University of Maryland,

Wollesen will be working with the UMD School of Music and also the School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies. He will also be overseeing the visiting artists’ program, raising funds and finding new ways to connect students and the public to the arts at the university.

For the past nine years, Wollesen has been director of events and artistic director for ArtPower!, the program for visiting artists at the University of California in San Diego.

During his years there, he earned a reputation for innovation as a way to engage both nonperforming students and general audiences in music, dance, and film programs.

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